Watching the Olympics creates all kinds of wonderful feelings and at the same time many have to confront disappointment and failure. Then there is good sportsmanship, cooperation, North and South Korea are coming together, the fun of competing and it just feels good to be here. The opening ceremony was beautiful and inspirational. The small children come out with lanterns wanting to find there way in the fog. I thought this is what it is like to be in Angea right now. In the fog and wanting to make your way through this world. There is confusion, not being sure what to think or what to say. The old seems to be crumbling and yet how to hold in there to pay the rent, buy groceries, and honor our responsibilities. How much longer can this last?

This is definitely not the time to go into debt. Get out of debt. Debt will be the number one enslaver of times now and in the future. You cannot be free it you are in debt. Create a plan to allow yourself to become debt free as soon as you can. This will take an enormous amount of strain and stress away from you. Politically things will probably stay confusing and disruptive. Find the humor in it or do not pay attention. Focus on your home, family, and job.

How connected are you in the health care system? Find ways to care for yourself that do not need insurance or large sums of money. Alternative ways of healing are abundant in our country. Take a look and find what will work for you. It appears that the medical system especially pharmaceuticals are not in our best interest. For them it is about big money – big profits. Our health seems to be of little concern to them. Are you able to live without big pharma? Get into nature and the sun as much as you can.

The more we do not need money the easier and happier our lives will be. Eat well and grow your own food if you can. There are farms in most areas. I found that the most popular farm in our area is now 80% GMO. I stopped going there. They had strawberry picking in April and May. Then we were picking in January until the hot summer. What happened? GMO’s. They make more money but the food is not the same. In my Angea, money is not the reason to do things. Money takes a back drop and the joy of the activity becomes more important. The broccoli heads in my garden this year are huge and this is after Harvey and major freezes.

When was the last time you read a book for fun? When is the last time you just took a walk for the pleasure of it? When was the last time you painted a picture, weaved a fabric, made a clay pot, sang a song, created a song, laughed with friends, sat around a camp fire, made music together, wrote a poem, or made the world beautiful in some way? What if doing these things were the priority in life and not something when you have time you will do?

Now find your lantern which is your belief system, your values, your will to live in a better place, and big smiles curious to see what will happen next. You are the one that will create the future that matters. What happens in Washington or any where else is unimportant. You will find a way to create the future that you want. I will see you in the fog. Here is hoping that we bump into each other.

Transition oils for those that need that extra support:

Siberian Fir Needle – supports the nervous system as you move into greater spiritual and physical awareness.

Amyris – accept the good work you have done and acknowledge that you are ready for more

Geranium – moving into the unknown can create fear so geranium dispels this fear and gives the courage to move forward.

Mugwort – brings self awareness positively and negatively but supports you while you are in the fog so you can become a major part of Angea.

Valerian – allows you to relax even when you make mistakes or do not do it right and when you fear that you will not make it, it reassures you that you will.

This subject is incredibly difficult to discuss. Of all the personal growth issues, this is the most loaded and embedded in our culture. Our culture believes in original sin and believes that punishment or fear of punishment will help you become better. Today taking responsibility leads to punishment. This sets up all kinds of defense mechanisms to avoid feelings of shame and guilt. You know down deep that you are not good enough, perfect enough, right enough, a loser, flawed, and a fraud that will be found out at any moment. The hard part to accept is that no matter how hard you work to become better, you can never get there. Perfection is impossible so the only recourse is to avoid responsibility.

President Trump shows us how to avoid responsibility. Never accept blame and never admit to any wrong doing. Lie or recreate the story so that you are always the good guy. Only except responsibility when it is positive or people like it. If someone reports a different truth, call it fake. made up, or they are lying. This keeps everyone off balanced and not knowing for sure. Most people are raised by parents that tell them to tell the truth and behave with good manners. When people around you openly do not do this, it is very confusing. It is difficult for people to stand up when they are not sure. For those that have been raised to be good and tell the truth, they can fall prey to scapegoating. Within the job place, has this happened to you? You told the truth or you outed wrong doing only to be fired. Watch and see what happens to Trump after the investigations are over. With Clinton, he lied until he couldn’t because of the evidence. What happened? He went to a therapist and almost became first lady. Do you remember when we had the financial breakdown? No one went to prison because they all avoided responsibility. It was called too big to fail. Avoiding responsibility or punishment has become the American Way!

I no longer want to live on that Earth. I want manners and truth to mean something. I want taking responsibility be the first step in personal empowerment. Learning from mistakes creates new possibilities and not punishment. When something goes wrong, what can we do to help. How do we allow ownership of failure without it being demoralizing and shaming? It can happen, if we choose to live differently and own up to responsibility for our lives. If you want more abundance in your life, do not spend your time moaning and groaning about why you can’t and the dirty tricks that life has played you. Mentally reinforce your right to have everything that you want. Take responsibility for what is going wrong in your life and begin to correct the mistakes. Begin to move forward. Find support from family and friends to see you thru. Drop those that belittle you or keep you in a state of confusion. You can have whatever you want. It is up to you and what you are willing to be responsible for.

Will you challenge these thought forms with me? Punishment needs to be let go and responsibility needs to take its place. When something goes wrong, we do not need to spend our time looking for the guilty party and then waste time on figuring out the punishment. How much of parenting is wasted in finding who the guilty party is instead of accepting the problem or failure and determining what do we do next to solve the problem. When something goes wrong, everyone needs to take their piece in it. This is how we grow and this is how we learn. Making mistakes are growth opportunities and do not need to be handled with dread but good experiences for making advances and improvements. We are getting better. Responsibility means we are becoming powerful. We own our power.

No one is perfect or needs to be. We are in a situation of becoming more of who we are. That is very individualized. No one can take responsibility for us. We are the only ones that know where our responsibility lies. Each of us must be trusted to make this call. We will make mistakes by not taking enough or too much. For those still afraid of taking responsibility, they will take too little or not at all. For those that are convinced that they are flawed humans and never seem to get it right, they will take too much. Some will take too much out of religious conviction as Jesus was sacrificed for our sins. There are all kinds of journeys on the road to waking into one’s responsibility.
Do you take responsibility for your children? When do they take responsibility for their lives? Do you take responsibility for your health? Do you take responsibility for your bank account? Do you take responsibility for your happiness? The level of responsibility can go on and on. So take a check list and see where are you responsible for yourself and where are you not. The more responsible your are, the more powerful you are.

Can we as a people release Earth from this trap? Can Angea be free of the punishment model, failure system, and guilt and shame. We have to do it within our own lives. This is an individual movement toward freeing ourselves to make mistakes and truly grow within the abundant world that is Earth. Do I think that this is going to be easy and will take little effort to accomplish. No, I think it is going to take time: reevaluating, challenging cherished beliefs, soul searching for what is right, being scared as sacred thought forms are changed and new threads are walked. Maybe it will not be that easy or happen over night, but rewarding it will be. Thank you, Donald, for making it so clear that we must do something different as this system just does not work. We have to do something different. I am saying. Take responsibility; empower yourself. Where will you begin?

If you want more info on this whole process, we do have an online class called Healing Shame and Guilt with Aromatherapy. It is a good place to start. Oils will be offered to help in the transition. All you need to do is touch the online classes tab on the home page. Please contact me if you want to talk or just need a sounding broad. Meg@gritman.com

We started last month to look at the female and male balance within ourselves and our world. We found that the idea of balance is different in the New Earth. It is about movement and change. Only when we become stagnant are we out of balance. Being out of balance is allowing for nothing to dissuade your position. You are stuck.

Attempting to balance is not 50/50. If you look at a day. There are only two places where there is a 50/50 balance. That is at 6am and 6pm. As to the seasons, equinoxes that happen only twice a year are 50/50 balance points. They happen only briefly and begin to move or change. Another way to say this is TAO or a way to see life as a balanced movement between two forces yin and yang. Life is always moving and it is impossible to hold 50/50. Balance is movement where one can almost become an extremist but there is always movement to the other side or other extreme. To be in balance can mean that you can be very extreme in your position as long as you are changing and growing. You will automatically stay in balance as you move through the process. We are all in process.

The other way to see balance is being both. We are both male and female. You do not need to define yourself as one or the other and you are free to act accordingly. The next step in consciousness is to hold paradox within your life and recognize it as the balance point. If you become extreme or out of balance, it means that you need to embrace the opposite. If you find yourself angry and hateful, then you need to recognize the love and compassion that is also there. Both can hold the same place. This is the paradox of life. The happiest moment of your life can also be the unhappiest day. Making all the arrangements for a perfect marriage usually means that something terrible is going to happen to ruin the perfection. That is the paradox of life. If you are able to hold both opposites or extremes as OK and live within them. You will reach a new point of balance.

Angea is all of us, but especially all of us who are looking to change and be in the world in a new way. The old way will remain and many of us will bring some of that with us as we start on our journey into the new. It is how it is. This is the paradox of life in that you can never truly be new as the old is always there. You cannot move forward without bringing some of the old with you. We can clean, purge, heal, and do all the things we need to do to stay clear and at our best. Yet, the old still remains with us and we will have opportunity upon opportunity to reframe and change it as we move on our path.

Nature has been whispering to me lately that balance is something that Nature attunes to every day. If we are outside and allowing Nature to know us, it will recognize you, and then sing back to you your song. Nature will customized their song for you. Stay in nature long enough and it will balance you. You will find talents that you did not know that you had coming forward. To this you will have to put down your electronics. Sit and work in nature for as long as you can. Put your hands in the soil and take off your shoes. Please allow the sun to shine upon you. Do not be afraid of the rays. You do not need sun screen unless you have a special condition that needs protection. The sun is part of nature and part of that which will sing to you

Essential oils are part of nature and they too will sing. They too will harmonize. When you get sick, it just means that you are out of balance. Strep throat is present in everyone’s throat. It is only a problem when it becomes out of balance. Essential oils can rebalance the throat without killing the strep throat. Antibiotics are killers and the body and virus defend themselves or create immunity. Essential oils are not killers but balancers.

This month please go out into nature and be with it as much as you can. As I am writing this, we have snow warnings here in Houston, so I will not be going out very much today. When you have the chance to be with Nature, please take the Gritman Guide with you. Allow the world to sing to you. Then run your fingers down the Table of Contents. Ask Nature to let you know which oils that you need this month to help you on your journey of creating New Earth or New Life. Allow yourself to listen to Nature. Be silent and allow the presence to fill you. It is always there, always for you, and always loves you.

Each of us has the opposite gender within us. It is what the TAO and Jung tell us. We are all in process of becoming more or less of who we are. We can get caught in defining male and female by genitalia. Many women with great breasts can be very male behaving. That means that they love being in the workplace with a career and may not care about having children. Some men with great penises may want to stay home and take care of the children and do the cooking and cleaning. There is no right way to express male nor is there a wrong way. If you look at TAO, it explains female as being passive as the energy is directed within or within home. Male is expressed as being active as the energy is directed out or away from home. We are a becoming more male or more female and flowing back into the other. It is a process. Gender has nothing to do with this. Except society has defined appropriate, confining roles for male and female making us crazy for thousands of years. We ask the question. “Who am I?. Who decides?”

If I am unable to decide my best course of action, then who does that for me? Is this in my best interest? Do I know what I want? Whom do I want to be when I grow up. I am in my 70’s and I still ask these questions. I have felt very male and at times very female. Other times I have just felt confused. I first started living my life as I was told to and then began to back out of these agreements. It was scary at times and often paralyzing as I took control. We all need to be captain of our fate and the flag bearer of our soul.

There is a problem in this country in the way men and women come together. For a long time we have been in denial. Everyone knows about the casting couch. Women and men know about this. If a woman gets on the couch, then she is not a good woman. Women are suppose to separate themselves and pretend that they would never do that, but how do you get ahead without going to the couch? Isn’t it just the way it is. While men play the game that women who get on the couch are giving their permission so everything is all right. It doesn’t matter what they say or do because they are on the couch. If we are powerful enough, we can do as we please. We live these lies of denial in attempting to do good while we do bad. It needs to stop. Punishing men now is really not the answer. It is time for reconciliation. It is not for just the ones that feel abused. It is for all of us.

We all need to get serious with ourselves. When did you turn your head away from someone in need? When did you pretend not to hear? When did you walk away from someone that was being abused, bullied, or misused? When did you say, “Well that is just how it is. What can I do about it?” We live in a society that tells us what is right but then goes and does it wrong. The ambivalent messages of good and wrong are used to control us and keep us confused. In your heart, you know your course of action. Why have you stopped listening?

It is not a time to punish but get real. It is a time to consider all the times you were not able to be the person that you wanted to be. You were raped, you threw an person with AIDS food in the trash because you were afraid of them, you condemned or falsely accused someone so that you would not get caught, you denied or lied about something because you feared punishment, you did something that made you ashamed. It is time to look at all of that in the face and let yourself off the hook. If you need to forgive yourself do that. There is nothing that you cannot forgive. There is nothing so horrible or terrible that cannot be forgiven. Can you forgive Hitler!? If you cannot, then start here. Once you can forgive Hitler, you certainly can forgive yourself and everyone else. Find a way.

It isn’t about punishing the wrong doing. It is about coming to terms with ourselves. We all hold the male and female within us. Both are in pain. Both need our compassion and understanding. Both need to heal. Only when the divide is resolved within us, will we have peace with both are female and male sides. We can project our issues into the outside world and demonize men or women. This works but it gets a little messy. It is easier to comes to terms with it within ourselves so that we can leave the world players alone and find peace and comfort in the world we live in.

There are many more oils that can be useful. You can start here or listen to your guidance. It will soon be the 18th of December and this is a new moon. Perfect time to announce to the universe and yourself what you want. Solstice is December 21 and perfect time to let the Earth, Angea, know what you want for the coming year.

Thank you for doing this. If each one of us takes responsibility for the issues within our world. We can find our power within all this nonsense out there. We create the world. It is up to us to heal the world. We start by healing ourselves.

Angea (ann gee uh) is the name given to the New Earth that is splitting away from Gaia. There is a certain part of the population on Earth that has become aware that they create their own reality. Angea is a response not only to that awareness, but also to the enslavement of humanity through media mind control, mass events, the poisoning of the environment, and the alienation of the natural world. We now have an opportunity to envision the earth as we want it to be. We will all have a different idea of what this will be. Your idea will be different from mine. This is as it should be.

A blend has been created to help clear the mind and body so that it can envision this new world. There may be things within ourselves that we will need to confront and decide if we want to carry it forward. I personally want to let go of the gender bias, living in a world that describes itself in terms of what is expected of women and men. I want to live in a world that is free from the battle of good and evil, winning and losing, right over wrong. I personally want to live in a world where each of us is valued as an individual with strengths and weaknesses. I want to live in a world that values artistic expression and makes the world more beautiful. I want to live in a world where I have much down time and freedom to do nothing if I so wish without being looked down upon as not productive.

It is time for all of us to make these declarations.

The next blend will be one that is meditative. It is to be diffused, wore on the body, smelled before sleeping with reaffirmations of the life and world that you want to create, or just smelled when the time is right. My sacred space is the bath tub so I am taking a bath first. Allow yourself to go into a meditative space and smell the oil at least several times a week. Every day would be great but most of us will not be able to keep that scheduled so do what you can. The more time you spend allowing the New Earth, Angea, to grow in your mind and heart, the more you will be able to create the world that you want to live in. Sit with Gaia in natural surroundings and thank her for her support. Allow her to give you ideas about the changes that she would also like to see. The natural world, as always, will be our helper in setting our intentions for this new creation.

Take advantage of the new moon and Winter Solstice. New moons are times for imagining what can be and what you want. Remember it is not your job to know how your imagination will manifest. Leave that to the Natural World. At the full moon take a blank piece of paper and put it into a window where the moon is shining through. The next morning, put it away and store until the new moon. During the time in between work with essential oils in order to help you refine and re-imagine the world you want. Then at the new moon, take out the piece of paper and write on it what you want to manifest in the new world. Repeat this process every cycle until the Winter Solstice arrives. Use the new moons before as a sort of dress rehearsal, as the Solstice is the most powerful time to kick start your imaginings into manifestation. Thank the Natural World for being your partner and being cooperative creators of your world and Angea’s. Together we will create the world that we want for ourselves and for the New Earth.

I finished my bath series with Angea – Connecting to New Earth . The first bath was Wow and then the baths after were nice but I got a sense that I was being prepared for something. I am ready for the next step. I asked and there was no answer. I waited and asked again. The message was to hold the baby. Think of Angea as a baby, how would you raise her? Raising a baby! That’s lots of work. Parenting Angea is an enormous responsibility. Of course all children come with their own personality and sense of destiny, but parents play a role. Upside down we go from Gaia our mother to Angea the baby.

As I began to run these thoughts through my mind. I asked myself, “How do you raise a planet?” It seemed such an absurd idea. I guess you have to look at your thoughts, feelings, and actions. How do I make up my world? Is this the world I want to raise Angea? No, I want lots of changes. I want to go back to more natural times and allow technology to fall in line with a natural life. For me a natural life is one that spends time in the sun without protection, eats food grown naturally or organically from the earth, that wears clothes that are natural fibers, lives with sustainable energy, where waste products are thought of as natural resources to be recycled. So as we raise Angea, do we all need to be like minded? Of course not, that is impossible. Angea is going to have millions of parents and everyone’s thoughts will play a part. For me it was making a conscious choice and being aware that I was creating the New Earth. It is about me creating my world the way I want so that Angea can grow up in that world with me. I am just one mind and one voice. The world I create for myself and Angea will be the world that she and I live in together. You will also do the same whether you are conscious of it or not.

Humans once were stewards or librarians for Gaia. The role became distorted and we became enslaved. For Angea I want to be as free as I can be mentally, emotionally, and physically. Do you have debt? Do you take pharmaceuticals? Do you live in a community, know your neighbors, have help when you need it, and are you there for others when they need it? What about the future? Do you see yourself living a good life, able to travel or do what you want, contributing to your world in ways that make you happy and the world better, able to help others and contribute to their lives, as you grow older do you see yourself healthy and fit, do you see yourself directing your life even though the world could become chaotic, and do you see yourself living in a beautiful world and are you contributing to that beauty? Can you answer yes to these questions. If not, why not?

I could answer yes to some of these questions and knew that I was working towards some of the others. As I begin to see and feel my way through this I became very aware that the paths we choose will be very different. Just as the planet is composed of people with many different parents and many different children. The difference here is being conscious that you are part of the creation, and what you think, value, and desire is important.

I need time to think my way through all this. A meditative blend would support me tremendously. I am to be clear on my vision for myself and my world. Amy, my daughter, died a few months ago and this left me with no future. Amy was in that future and with her that vision left. For me this is timely. I am searching for new vision. Why not have Angea be part of it!? Am I too old and ready to check out or am I ready to begin anew and create a new future?

The world can be a scary place. Nazi’s can run through the streets, shooters can kill from windows high up, natural disasters can destroy everything, you can lose all that you own within a matter of seconds. Do you want to continue to live in this? Do you want this for Angea? The Earth needs our visions, our thoughts, our emotions, our money to support a conscious life style for ourselves and for her. I see us riding through these turbulent times with grace, support, happiness, and when things fail that it will be handled easily. It will turn out better than can be imagined, as all the failure has only supported the new that is coming. What is lost is reformed into what is being envisioned within our imagination right now.

We are experiencing confusion, anxiety, and troubles understanding daily occurrences. Why and how does the world seem to have gone mad. Old fears and hates are surfacing. Why is there so much rage and anger? We are in a transitioning period. The Earth is splitting. Gaia has housed for thousands of years high levels of trauma. Gaia is the name given to the sentient being Earth. Her experience continues to house conflict, separation, hostility, war, and stalemate. Angea, name given to the new Earth breaking away from Gaia, represents a going back to the beginning vision of Earth. Earth was meant to be a living library of all that is present within this galaxy. It is a special place where all can come and learn from each other. It is a place where the arts flourish making the world more beautiful. It represents a period of time where all that Gaia has seen and endured can be turned into compassion for oneself and for all others. Gaia allows you to experience it all both glorious and hideous. With this acknowledge, where do we go from here?

It is time to take a stand. But let us not take a stand against but for. Let us be for this planet called Angea that represents cooperation, resonance, tolerance, and allowing all things. Let us embrace Gaia and acknowledge the incredible carnage and violence that has so taken hold of her. Let us find compassion within our hearts to love and care for those that are still caught up in this divisive battle. It is time to put down the rage we feel for one another and pull forward the love we can have for one another. Let this be about being for the Earth and allowing it to bloom into a haven for peace, production, and possibilities.

It appears to us that Gaia is going forward and will probably become a borg planet. The people will be outfitted with electronics that they have bought and will find themselves enslaved within that technology. It will happen slowly until the wrists, arms, and head will be outfitted with the newest and best technology. They will become controlled and manipulated by it. It will be Angea’s challenge to allow technology but to allow it to be a helpmate and not an enslaver.

Some are calling for Unity Consciousness. Borg is unity consciousness, so let us be careful of our words and thoughts. We have long lived within a very controlled earth. We are told what is good and right by our parents, our schools, our churches, and our society. We are not allowed to listen to the voice within that may see a different path or one that may appear to be “wrong.” For most of us we have stopped listening to ourselves. We are trying to be the best people we know how to be living up to their standards. Because of this, standing up and finding our vision for the New Earth may be more difficult. For Angea unity consciousness can mean that we have tolerance and allow for differences. Our awareness expands. This awareness will be different for each. There is no right or wrong answer here. Differences within a greater unifying field are encouraged, allowed, and seen as beneficial and strengthening to the whole. We are all people of the Earth. Just which earth do you want to live upon?

The world as we look at it now appears to have gone crazy. No matter what political affiliation, things are not going the way that we wish. This confusion signals that the separation is happening. The two worlds are splitting. It is time to get that we no longer need to rally against but stand up for what we want and what we want to envision. Allow it all and have compassion for it all. It is time to honor the nobody that you are within the unique divine expression that you are. You are very special and at the same time just an ordinary person. You have your unique vision. You may see those that you love choose different visions and paths. Allow and let them go as they will allow and let you go. It is time to stand up for what you want. Which path are you on?

To help, we have created with much help from the essential oils a blend called Connecting to the New Earth. It has within it:

Cistus – balance the male and female within as there is much too much imbalance within the world. This can be seen as the greater principle of yin and yang and that the world and we as individuals are out of balance because our world is out of balance.

Lemon Iron Bark – allow allow allow and find the strength to do nothing. It speaks to interference however much it is well intended. Bad things can have greater good consequences and to interfere is to stop the good consequences.

Pine – recognizes the consciousness expansion and allows for grounding so that the energetic body may fill with light while the physical body grounds and prevents craziness.

Fir Needle Silver – balances receiving and giving or another way to see yin and yang and compliments Cistus. Now is not the time to sacrifice yourself for another. Giving to yourself while you receive from the universe is a new definition of this oil.

Tagetes – Our will to do good can be just a prison of negative or overbearing should’s and ought’s. Tagetes will help release your mind so that you are free to seek expanding awareness and grow out of old ideas that will keep you in “your place.”

Cabreuva – Quit your bitching oil which means look at what is going right and acknowledge and enjoy that. Everything will fall into place as you wish but spend your time on what is going right in your world and ignore the rest.

Blue Musk – Surely this does not belong as it is synthetic. There is a place for all things and that includes synthetics. This musk appeals to our animal nature. The sweaty, carnal passion of life with all its desires. Some would say evil or perhaps just the pleasure of the flesh or being human in 3D.

Winter Spice (Clove, Nutmeg, and Coriander) Clove releases negative attachments allowing for the true self to emerge, Nutmeg is the oil of wisdom so that what seemed unacceptable is understood with higher awareness, and Coriander instills a sense of self esteem regardless of the journey or experience as it is all good.

Use in 7 baths, 7 days apart, for 7 weeks (be careful that the bath tub is able to handle essential oils) OR

Use in a shower as a spray for 49 days Or

Use in a massage for 14 weeks

If you have any questions, please feel free to respond to the blog or send us an email at info@gritman.com

What the heck are macerations? It can get confusing. I like to think that infusions mean water soluble while macerations mean fat soluble. The secret behind herbal medicine is to know where the medicine is and how is it soluble. Most herbal medicine is devoted to alcohol and water soluble medicine while aromatherapy is concerned with fat soluble medicine.

Let’s take St John’s Wort. It is known to be a powerful anti-depressant. The medicine is in the flower and it is fat soluble. If you are drinking a tea of St. John’s wort, it is not going to help you with depression. If you are using an oil that has a red color to it, then you are using the maceration of St. John’s Wort and it will help you with depression. To make things more complicated, the essential oil of St. John’s Wort, is not an anti-depressant. The chemical hypericin in the plant is thought to contribute to its anti-depressing powers, but this molecule is too large to be distilled. The flowers must be soaked in fat until the color turns red. Not all St. John Wort flowers contain hypericin thus the need to check the color. Once the fatty oil is separated from the flowers, you have a maceration.

Macerations do not have high scent value. Most aromatherapists judge essential oils on their scent. If you are use to working with essential oils, it is important not to devalue macerations because they do not smell as strong. It is only natural to think that the oil is not strong or will not work well because it smells weak. This is just not true. Since the maceration has all the fat soluble properties of the plant, it is a much more powerful product than just an essential oil. The added bonus is that you do not need to worry about using a carrier because there is already fatty oil in the bottle. It can be safely used directly from the bottle.

The next question is how do you use it? It is safe to drop onto the skin, use in a bath, and it can be ingested. Ingestion is always tricky and must be researched before taking internally. Some macerations and essential oils can interfere with pharmaceuticals causing reactions that may be good and may be harmful. Never take a substance internally unless you know the side effects. With St. John’s Wort, there could be issues around serotonin in the brain especially if you are taking other antidepressants. Since there is not much smell, putting the bottle under your nose or in a diffuser is not going to be that effective. A massage, rubbing onto the back of the neck, onto the bottom of the feet, under the arms, can be effective ways of using the maceration.

Once you get use to the fact that a maceration is not that smelly but delicate and powerful, a whole new world of plant medicine will open to you. There are many plants that provide fat soluble medicine. One way to tell is if there is fragrance or essential oils that are always fat soluble. Any plant with a scent will have fat soluble medicine. Gritman makes a variety of macerations. Some research will reveal plants like calendula with little scent can make very powerful macerations especially if you are treating skin issues.

Look around. What do you have growing in your garden or the park next door? What is right in front of you that you could be making macerations? Of course now you want to know how to make them. We have a free “how-to” on our online classes. Making Macerations Take a look and find out.

Everyone uses Roman Chamomile. Johnson and Johnson uses it in their baby products. Massage therapists use it for its calming, antispasmodic and sedative properties. Aromatherapists use it for red dry skin, anxiety, headaches, stress, colic, and a rescue remedy for asthma. In fact it is so common that it is often just referred to as Chamomile. This is despite there are several other chamomiles on the market such as Blue/German Chamomile, Moroccan Chamomile, and Wild Chamomile to name the most popular ones. Most will tell you that they are really all interchangeable but this is not true.

Roman Chamomile is distinctly a very special oil. It is made primarily of esters and acids. Most essential oils do not have acids in them because acids are water soluble. Essential oils are fat soluble. Roman Chamomile has managed to hold onto a few of its acids. This is why.

Esters are made in distillation from alcohols and acids. When the ester forms it also forms some water. When there are esters present there is also water present. The acids now have a medium to carry them. This is a very delicate balance. I bet most of you have seen a lavender go sour. It smells like vinegar. This happens when water enters the bottle and upsets the balance. More acid occurs which in lavender’s case is vinegar or ascetic acid.

Roman Chamomile has a special acid called Angelic Acid which is a sedative. Esters are also sedatives so Roman Chamomile is ideally suited to sleep related disorders. Tiglic Acid and Methacrylic acid are also found in Roman Chamomile which tend to have a nice scent. Blue or German Chamomile is not known for its good scent. Blue Chamomile is highly anti-inflammatory while Roman Chamomile is not. Blue Chamomile is highly antimicrobial while Roman Chamomile is not but it is anti-fungal which the blue is not.

Now for color. Do not believe the books when they tell you that Roman Chamomile is clear to yellow. That is another chamomile altogether. It is probably the Wild or Moroccan Chamomile which is yellow, but Roman Chamomile is clear to light blue. It is the color of the sky on a clear day. The blue is chamazulene which it shares with Blue or German Chamomile and this is an anti-inflammatory. Sometimes Roman Chamomile produces no blue at all. I have talked with distillers and they are clueless on why some years it is blue and others it is not. Without the blue, Roman Chamomile has no anti-inflammatory properties.

It is only the blue oils that have the anti-inflammatory properties. They take the red out. There are two famous blue chamomiles. One is called Blue or German Chamomile. It is not from Germany but probably Egypt or Hungary. The Germans like to drink their Roman Chamomile as it tastes of green apple and use the essential oil of Blue Chamomile. Blue Tansy is also called Blue Chamomile or Moroccan Chamomile to make things even more confusing. The Blue Tansy seems to be a combination of esters like the Roman and blue with anti-inflammatory properties. It smells delightful but sadly it really is not a true chamomile.

All chamomiles are suppose to work with stress. This may be true but they do it differently. One way I like to look at it is Roman Chamomile is used for stress coming at you from outside sources. The Blue Chamomiles are used for internal stress. The stress is one that you are creating. It is you creating the deadline and not your boss. If the fear is real as a bear is really charging at you, use Roman Chamomile. If you are just afraid that the bear might charge you and there is no bear in sight, use blue chamomile.

Although, Roman Chamomile is said to be safe for infants and children. There are warnings against using Roman Chamomile for the first few months of pregnancy. It seems that this chamomile has an effect on the menstrual cycle and there is concern that it could cause problems in the early months. It is best to avoid Roman Chamomile in the early stages of pregnancy. It is best to be safe.

My favorite story about Roman Chamomile happened when Amy and I were doing a birth expo in Houston. One young mother came by with a crying baby on her back. This young boy was screaming at the tops of his lungs. He was incredibly unhappy. I asked the Mom if I could put some Roman Chamomile on the bottom of his feet. I think she had long since stopped hearing him. When I place the chamomile on his feet, it took only a second. He stopped crying and looked directly at me with the most loving look. If he could have hugged me, he would have. He fell asleep immediately and slumped down into the back pack. The Mom did not notice. I put the chamomile in her purse, and we both hoped that she would find it later.

Roman Chamomile has the ability to calm even the most upset. It has angelic notes passing through it. It is rare and beautiful. When you are in the presence of this chamomile, you are in the presence of the angels.

Lots of changes here at Gritman, but when has there not been. We love just seeing how things unfold. We sometimes have plans and move forward to have them completely change and shift. Can be frustrating, but exciting at the same time.

We are moving beyond essential oils and creating a community here something Meg and Amy have been wanting to do for years. Last year we had Lukah a wonderful permaculturist plant the seeds literally and figuratively making this possible. With large amounts of clearing, planting, and mushroom growing.

Amy has come back to Gritman and living as well as working. Her goal is to create a tiny house community. We are in the planning stages with this. She is learning wood working and how to incorporate the bamboo into this build. She also has plans for an outdoor commercial kitchen/food truck where we will offer brunch either on Saturday or Sunday once a week. We would like to start opening Gritman to the community. We want this beauty and energy for everyone and not just for the few. If you have any expertise or interest to help please contact her at amy@gritman.com.

Gritman Family

Sadly, Olivia left us last Fall. She wanted to pursue other goals. We miss her every day and wish her well. She was a beautiful addition to Gritman and it was nice to have some more female energy here.

Michael is still with us, and is going into his 3rd year with us. Sadly, he lost his father to terminal cancer last September. I am glad he had us as second family to lean on. He looks forward to building his own customer base here. I would love to see him pursue chemistry and testing for us as well as for other small essential oil businesses. It is badly needed in the industry. I look forward to seeing what he does decide to do.

Natalie is going into her 2nd year with us. We first thought she would do farmer’s markets with us. However it looks like her gifts were more in social media and graphic design. She runs our Facebook Page, Twitter, and Instragram accounts as well as create our newsletters monthly, beta testing all of our online classes, and other graphic design projects. She has become such an asset to us. She is also studying in a holistic health practitioner program, at the end will get licensed as a holistic nutritionist.

One of our newest addition is Mitchell! He has been in the Gritman Community for several years now and was just waiting for an opening. He has become a wonderful addition to the everyday running of Gritman. He will also be present at the Friendswood Farmer’s Market the first Saturday of each month selling products that come from our farm. He has great know how and drive. He is interested in helping Amy build the tiny house community too.

Scott another friend of Michael’s and Mitchell’s, and 2nd newest addition has been helping with cultivating the mushrooms that were first started with Taylor and Lucah. Scott is a smart, funny, strong capable person and just sees us as family. Glad he wants to be apart of things here.

It also looks like Romina (seen here picking Goldenrod for our Fall distilling), Mitchell’s girlfriend will be coming here to help on the farm and when Mitchell finishes his tiny house. She wants to live there as well as raise chickens for us.

Roman Chamomile that we procured from our 5th generation distiller in Oregon is probably the best we have ever seen. It actually has a light blue color very rare for it to have this high of chamazulene content in it, http://www.gritman.com/roman-chamomile-essential-oil.html. The cost did go up, but this is a superior Roman Chamomile and does not come around often.

We were contacted by Japanese Distiller who offers Hinoki Essential Oil and Yuzu. Hinoki is a type of Japanese Cypress. We will have more details about it later. This Japanese Yuzu is the best smelling Yuzu I have ever come across. (We still have a small stock of the old Yuzu) Keep your eyes open coming this Spring.

Last Fall, we were able to distill Goldenrod finally, http://www.gritman.com/goldenrod-essential-oil.html.

Oh in February we will be moving to a cloud based ecommerce site and will also have capabilities to mobile access. We will probably do a complete redesign of the interface too.